Monster (build thread, Lots of pics, Bike Porn included)

Thanks.

Yeah, I haven't found anywhere this bike can't go, yet. Still trying, though. A friend just gave me a chalange of a trail that crosses 7 mountians in 30 miles. This should be fun.

I've got too many other irons in the fire to make any frames to sell right now, but Its something I might eventualy do.

Yeah, 18s for now, and I'm not even maxing out amps on the controller. The back tire just can't handle any more than I'm pumping into it so far. it lasts a few hundred miles, then puts a $100 dent in my wallet. I really like the Surly Lary tire on the front. It bites hard in the corners and even finds grip anywhere. But on the back, I managed to tear off knobs, blister it, and wear it down to a slick real quick, So I'm trying a Vee Mission 26"x4.0" this time. So far, the Mission hooks up better in the dirt. Maybe it will survive longer.
 
Drunk Skunk, when you get tired of smoking rear tires, lace your 5404 up to an Excel Takasago xlite Rear Rim - 19x1.85 and run a 19x3.50 SR241 Shinko on that. Even the Prowheel racing front 19x1.4 Yamaha playbike rim will work if minimal weight increase is a concern. The tire will come in at just under 4 inches wide and about 26" even on Diameter. Use 11-8 gauge spokes (3-3.6mm) cut at 127mm with simple 90 degree L bends. This tire weighs around 9 pounds and can be had for about 40-50 bucks. 3.0-3.5/19 Kenda Tube will run you another 15. You should get an easy 4000 miles out of this tire.

Rick
 
Thanks Rix. I may try that if this latest tire doesn't hold up.

Yeah samoloh, I have to mount it like a horse. Everything's bigger in Texas. :mrgreen:


I got out on a new local track last week. In this part of Texas, we've heard of hills, but few have actually seen one. We're so flat out here that a 50 foot elevation change is a huge deal. To keep things interesting, most of them go up and down the ridges along river banks. But thats not enough, so they also make them tight and twisted. If you watch this next video in HD, you'll spot the scars many trees have where many people have clipped a handlebar. Its why I run the bull horn bar ends, they make a good bash bar in the tight spots.

Anyway, crank up the bass and enjoy the vid.
[youtube]vpcybPu4kPY[/youtube]
 
Drunkskunk said:
While I was out, I snapped this shot. That's a normal sized 26" full suspension bike next to the Monster.
IMG_20130925_130834_zpsbd1ddff1.jpg

Hey skunk, just found this thread - Great build, I particularly like the size comparison shot... :mrgreen:

-JD
 
oatnet said:
Drunkskunk said:
While I was out, I snapped this shot. That's a normal sized 26" full suspension bike next to the Monster.
IMG_20130925_130834_zpsbd1ddff1.jpg

Hey skunk, just found this thread - Great build, I particularly like the size comparison shot... :mrgreen:

-JD

How does it make you feel that your bike is probably heavier then the kid who rides that mountain bike? :p
 
Nice vid and I like the editing too, especially slamming the front wheel down to the beat. What music is that? I try adding tunes and YouTube gets on my case even when I roll full credit on screen.

It's about time to start going for some air. Dirt bikes that are high like that are meant to be flown. :twisted:
 
Thanks.
The Music is Metalica Seek and Destroy, Bassnectar Dubstep remix. Youtube has jumped my case in the past about using original songs, but they've left me alone when I use remixes. I also grab my remixes from youtube. Since they've already left it alone for someone else, I figure it's safe.

I'm still looking for a trail that will realy chalange me. Jumps are few and far between around here, and this bike needs some air miles.
 
You can consider yourself lucky. Germany is the worlds number one country with the most blocked you tube videos. I am unable to watch most of what the ES memebrs upload. Only when using the anonymous Tor network do the videos work.

There's no other country where lawyers are getting rich opening law suits on ordinary people. A friend of mine was fined the crazy amount of 8700 € just for using a single song in one of his videos. To escape justice i only use home made music.

Big brother is everywhere!
 
I had a bit of a setback with the bike. I left the battery hooked up for a week and killed it. 4 of 12 packs are puffed up and toast. 8 more were below 1 volt, but I managed to charge them up to 3.8 volts without smoke or fire.

That's annoying, but at the same time its liberating. Its like losing your virginity. The bike is damaged, so Lets go try all the stuff I was afraid would damage it!

I've put off running at 24s because I was eating tires in 500 miles at 18s, over heating the tread at top speed, and the 9" brakes would smoke trying to pull this beast down from 40mph more than a couple times in a row. So it became an 18s bike.

But I can't configure 8 5S packs into 18S. So I wired the bike up for the first time at 24S.

I should have done it sooner. My highest speed at 18s was 42mph. I only charged to 3.85v per cell, but my new top speed is 48.7. The brakes are worthless at this speed, and the tires don't get enough grip to stop fast. But who cares! The power is just awesome! My Ebike grin has wrapped all the way around my head causing the top of my skull to fall off, and I've now lost my mind. :D

I'm trying now to get the packs up to 4.2v and try it again at full voltage.

Unfortunately, the packs are still a problem. I have 3 chargers right now, and it used to take 4 hours to do a balance charge on 12 packs. now with 1/3 fewer packs I'm already at 8 hours charge time and still not done. the cells won't stay balanced. But just to troll me, its not that some of the cells are being an issue. its all of them. some cells decide to jump up from 3.8 to 3.9 quickly, but then drag along going up to 4.0 while others are in full stop trying to get to 3.9, but rocket to 4.0. The chargers are going nuts trying to keep up, and I'm exhausted trying to monitor these things. So far none are heating up.
 
welcome to the club. :( i told my friend SEVERAL times to ALWAYS disconnect the battery from controller and not only flip the switch. he once forgot and most of the cells where ruined. i managed to "revive" most of them from below 1-2v voltage. but they just don't behave like good cells. you should check internal resistance and you most certainly find that it got much higher. those cells seem to look good, but they will become out of balance very fast, won't hold a charge very long and won't deliver nearly the Ah you were used to.
my advice: if you can afford it - buy new packs and salvage the broken ones.
 
Yep. new packs are needed.

The good news is: I broke 50! 50.7mph, fresh off the charger.
The bad news: these cells now can't do 4C without massive voltage sag. The voltage plummets at 35 amps draw, and the packs are very hot to the touch after a short ride.

I managed to hit 4.2v per cell and ran my speed run from that. But a ~10% increase in voltage should have done better than a ~4% increase in speed.
Better packs are needed.
 
Running the damaged packs like this is asking for them to catch fire.
Just make sure the packs are in an area where you don't mind fire / smoke damage, as it can make a huge mess.
 
You could earn some battery money by making some copies of that awesome frame. I'm running my "fun bike" at 28s and once those batteries wear out I want 32s. Drunkskunk, get a controller with regen. I set mine to 70% and from 50 mph when I squeeze the left brake lever and regen kicks in it's way better than hydrolic.
 
Yeah, don't use those anymore. I'd hate to see Monster blackened with soot. Time for some of those 65-130c Nanotechs. I can't wait to get my mitts on the six 10s packs I have sitting in Florida. I think I'll be able to fit all 6 in my swingarm battery compartment, so I can knock a lot of weight off the bike and have enough pack for most of my trips even configured for 30s.

I've gotta get to work on a scratch build much like yours except it will be a belt driven mid-drive. I've already got the 21" moto wheels, a selection of motors, a selection of batteries, forks, head tube, BB, swingarm pivot, and a variety of pulley stock for the drive and driven pulleys on the belt drive. I just need a sheet of 4130, since I'm not going with tubing.

PS- get rid of the drain down resistor on your controllers. I NEVER disconnect my battery pack, and it's never an issue. I have 2 bikes that haven't been ridden in over a year, my sons Clownbike and my daughter's escooter. I just checked their voltages last week and both 20s packs were still near 80V. It's amazing how little self discharge our lithium batteries have.
 
whoow nice bike you made there!
but i got a question where dit you get the head tube shell?
where dit you get the size for the bottom bracket shell that you needed.

i am thinking alot about this bike and maybe i am also going to make one.
i (my dad) already have an good welding machine (mig/mag Lorch M) :D
and i have the skill to weld and at school i can use the cnc banks and the turning lathe


so if you have any drawings and size's of the bike i would like see them? if thats is possible
and my last question is how thick is the steel u used? 2mm?

thanks
 
New batteries will be coming soon. Its pretty wild how much this controllerdrains when off, but I can't find any fault with it.


Thanks Loius. I got all the steel from aircraftspruce. the head tube is just a piece of steel tube with an inside diameter that was very close to the head set size.Head tubes need to be reamed after welding anyway, so the headset fits fine now. Same thing with the seat tube.
The bottom bracket is made from 2 blank BB I found on Amazon.com. This was built before 100mm BB were easy to get. I would do things different now.

The tubing is 0.065in, which is 1.6mm I think. that's about double the thickness most bicycles use, but it's easier to weld. I used 1" X 0.5" X 0.065" Square tubing which is a common SAE size. the closest common metric is 30mm X 15MM X 2mm. Its slightly Larger, but should be easy to find.
If you have access to a CNC, you're one step ahead of me. I basicly had just hand tools.
 
This battery kill scenario has happened recently to several ES members. Some electrical guru around here should post up a circuit that you have to press a button to turn it on, and it stays on until it sits idle for 30 minutes, and then it auto-disconnects. No hassle to press the button again if you've just stopped for lunch...
 
spinningmagnets said:
This battery kill scenario has happened recently to several ES members. Some electrical guru around here should post up a circuit that you have to press a button to turn it on, and it stays on until it sits idle for 30 minutes, and then it auto-disconnects. No hassle to press the button again if you've just stopped for lunch...
That's a good idea. I drew up a quick circuit with a one switch using 20amp relays, so 1 relay per 20amp.
It had a precharge bit where when the voltage is high enough the relays turn on from a dc-dc.

I think there is a resistor you can remove in the controller. It should go from neg to pos. I'm not 100% on this.
 
Back
Top